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Just wanted to give a "thumbs up" to the fellow on this forum who, awhile back, gave a great tip as to how he starts his wood stove. It has sure made my life easier. He stated he puts sawdust into egg cartons and adds wax to it. I started doing it this way but soon ran out of sawdust and egg cartons. So using the same principle/theory/method, I purchased a bale (5.5 cu.ft. - cost $5.49) of animal bedding, which is actually small wood shavings. For cartons I use food containers; cereal boxes, noodle boxes, cookie boxes, any cardboard container that'll hold 4/5 handfuls of shavings. For storing them I just put a couple staples in end so shavings don't fall out. What works also is the brown grocery bag. Just put a few handfuls of shavings in bag and fold it and flatten it out. This method eliminates the need for kindling wood. So would the fella who initially came up with this great, simple, idea stand up and be recognized...
But I think starting a fire is a huge misnomer. No one has ever started a fire. A fire is built,whether it is as you say,with shavings and egg cartons or from kindling wood and birch bark.
You have to start it to build it! Three sticks of fat wood and a match is all that is needed! You can buy fat wood all over. Sometmes called starter sticks. LL Bean sells it by the box. A 20 pound box will last most of the winter. It really is the best stuff I have ever used to start a fire.
I have some fatwood on-hand that I bought, but I also have plenty of evergreen trees that drop dead branches, and one type (Eastern Larch?) that seems to gro "nests" of very small twigs. Collect up a bunch of that, add some birch bark and it starts even faster than the fatwood. Only one match from dead out, if there are any coals at all left, even a match usually isn't needed.
That recipe sounds like more work than a Thanksgiving meal. You should have (although you still have time before the snow) gathered up pine cones. Two or three pine cones and a few little cedar sticks and you have flames in no time. As you probably know this was a great year for pine cones. I gathered up a trash can full in about 15 minutes before the rainy season arrived. Nice and dry and should last me until Spring easily. I've got an outdoor boiler and usually have a few coals also to work from.
Lesson over. Merit badges will be sent in 6 to 10 days.
I have some fatwood on-hand that I bought, but I also have plenty of evergreen trees that drop dead branches, and one type (Eastern Larch?) that seems to gro "nests" of very small twigs. Collect up a bunch of that, add some birch bark and it starts even faster than the fatwood. Only one match from dead out, if there are any coals at all left, even a match usually isn't needed.
You mean the softwood trees that lose their needles in winter? That is Larch, hackmatack or Juniper...whatever you want to call it as its known by all three things. I got a few.
Eastern larch? Is that close to western larch, sounds like it. Its called yellow pine or tamarack over here and is a great btu firewood. It loses it's needles in the winter too.
Eastern larch? Is that close to western larch, sounds like it. Its called yellow pine or tamarack over here and is a great btu firewood. It loses it's needles in the winter too.
Yup same thing....we call them hackmatacks as BrokenTap stated. There are zillions of them in Aroostook county.
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Starting then building a fire
